PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has started work to outsource 1,500 government primary schools to private organisations due to low enrolment and poor academic results, officials said.
According to the elementary and secondary education department, schools with 40 or fewer students have been declared under-utilised. Out of 4,147 such schools in the province, 1,500 will be selected for outsourcing.
Of these, 500 schools are in the merged districts, while 1,000 are in other parts of KP. The province has 2,313 girls’ schools and 1,834 boys’ schools with fewer than 40 students each.
The data shows that 1,443 under-enrolled schools are in Hazara Division, 679 in Bannu Division, 574 in Kohat Division, 509 in Dera Ismail Khan Division, 475 in Malakand Division, 274 in Peshawar Division, and 193 in Mardan Division.
District-level committees have been formed to recommend the most suitable schools for outsourcing. These committees include the deputy commissioner, district monitoring officer, and additional district education officer.
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Education secretary Mohammad Khalid said the government will continue to provide school buildings, pay tuition fees, supply free textbooks, and appoint watchmen. The teachers of outsourced schools will not lose their jobs but will be shifted to other government schools.
He added that private organisations, preferably non-profits, will run the selected schools under clear performance indicators. These organisations will be required to raise enrolment to at least 180 students per school within a year. Accountability measures, regular assessments, and quality teaching practices will also be ensured.
Currently, 5.9 million students are enrolled in 34,784 government schools across KP, while 4.9 million children between 5 and 16 years of age remain out of school.
Officials said the average monthly cost per student is Rs4,155, while at the primary level it stands at Rs3,517. A project management unit will also be set up to monitor and manage the outsourced schools.
